I Guess Villains Do Have Friends
by ArtsyMephy
Summary: Ater being brutally defeated by Shadow, Infinite reflects on the loss of his squad. Meanwhile, Eggman begins to think of a way to use the jackal's increasingly unhinged mind to his advantage, but after taking genuine pity on him, decides to help him instead.
1. Aftermath

**I haven't written in awhile, but I have so many ideas, so I had to. Okay, so I had this idea way back when I finished the game in January 2018. I edited a bit here and there and have an idea of where I want things to go, so there's that.**

**So, what bothered me about the game (apart from many other things) is the whole friendship theme felt really forced and out of place in comparison to say, Sonic Heroes, where it's integrated into gameplay and story. So I thought... what if Eggman and Infinite teamed up because they _wanted_ to team up ? What if they shared goals and genuinely cared and respected each other? What if it was _Sonic_ the one who had doubts? I mean, considering he was left alone imprisoned for 6 months you would think he would be at least a bit sad?Resentful? His friends are super capable and left him alone yet, it's Infinite the one who is sad and lonely? Hmm. _ANYWAY_, my rant is long enough. They're villainous characters, so expect them to be awful to each other at first. Enjoy what I have so far. This takes place just a few days after that flashback in Episode Shadow.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Aftermath

The 'Ultimate Mercenary' was once an untouchable outlaw. He was a skilled swordsman, running freely with his squad and wreaking havoc wherever the wind took them. They were dangerous nomads who all came together with one thing in common; each jackal had no one but their newfound family to count on.

Often, they would take dangerous, unethical jobs just for the money; just to survive. Throughout the years, Infinite built himself an exceptional reputation for never once failing these harsh, questionable jobs.

No one could touch him.

No one could beat him.

No one would dare to.

And then everything crumbled to pieces when that one hedgehog with the face showed up. Sigh.

Years of training, hunting, searching, stealing, fighting… all were useless when he went up against _him_.

And now here he was, for the third night in a row, howling a loud cry in the middle of the night only fellow members of his species could understand, none which were anywhere nearby.

He didn't even land a single hit on him. Not a scratch. He wondered if his squad were present with him in the fight they'd be as disillusioned as he was with himself.

Ultimate mercenary. What a joke.

He not only failed his mission to defeat his foe. He straight was too incompetent to protect his pack. After realizing that they might not make it, he wasted no time to rush and face off this foe. And then… he was too weak to even avenge his jackal squad. He hadn't felt so worthless and pathetic in years. And even then, he at least had them for comfort, but now… he had no one.

No one to run to, no one acceptable to show any weakness to. For the first time in his life, he was completely and utterly alone.

And he hated every single second of it.

Currently, he was residing in Dr. Eggman's Arsenal Pyramid base in Green Hill Zone because the one in Mystic Jungle was destroyed due to his failure to kill the dark hedgehog.

Infinite reached out for the nearest object in his grasp. It was a loose arm of the remains of a common Eggman robot he'd just trashed. The jackal gripped it tightly enough to dent it and threw it against the wall. The metallic object broke into pieces and made a loud, crashing noise as it collided with the cold, metal floor. The doctor, he noted, shouldn't care how many of his toys he trashed. His newest research was supposedly going to give him an edge over his enemies, so common robots were completely disposable at the moment as the doctor had a greater source of power in mind.

Infinite let out another distraught growl that echoed in the huge, empty, metallic room. No matter how many things he broke, it wasn't enough. He wanted Shadow. He wanted him dead or in pain, it didn't matter. He just wanted to show him a tinge of what he felt. Just a piece of how hopeless and powerless he felt when he beat him down and took his only friends.

_Friends…_

He looked around in the room. It was littered with broken down robots. Wires and circuits were giving out sparks of electricity. It was quiet, empty, and cold.

* * *

_In another room, same base…_

Dr. Eggman lied awake in the middle of the night due to the annoying howls of his tormented guest. He mentally punched himself for hiring a canine mobian of all things. Now he couldn't even tell him to go away, as that would be low, even for himself, given that the pathetic creature was alone because he couldn't handle the job he made him do.

That, and he still had faith that the jackal could redeem himself.

He reached for his round glasses sitting right him and practically punched a red button that would summon Orbot, one of his robotic servants.

"Would you kindly tell our guest to shut up!?" The doctor ordered the robot upon arrival.

"I believe that would be a mistake, sir," Orbot stated in his usual matter-of-factly manner.

"How so?" His creator demanded.

"He's still upset over his loss," he pointed out, "a loss that you are indirectly responsible for. I think giving him more time to mourn is more favorable-"

"I want him to shut up," he repeated angrily. "I don't care if it's more 'favorable', he hasn't done anything useful since then and I'm losing patience!"

"You can't lose something you don't have, sir."

"Hmf!"

Eggman threw his covers aside and stalked out of bed, not noticing (or caring) that he accidently kicked Orbot out of the way. The robot didn't even try to retaliate. Eggman had been working on figuring out the ruby's power the entire day without breaks, he'd been so tired that he'd actually gone to bed in his work clothes.

Eggman walked straight towards his old weapons room, which he was sure he was going to find shattered to pieces.

"Hey you!" He hissed, knocking harshly on the door. "You can scream and lament all you want in the morning! I'm trying to sleep!"

The noises suddenly died down completely.

_Huh. It worked._

Then a soft, cynical laughter emerged instead.

_Oh boy._

"Here I thought evil didn't rest, doctor?" A mocking tone said from within.

"It _dosen't._ It's just a lot better when it does," he barked back. "And don't take that tone with me, I know exactly why you're upset. Tell me, does breaking my stuff make you feel any better?"

The halls were quiet once more. Slowly, the giant, heavy door opened. Eggman had to look down to make eye contact with his tiny guest. Two mismatched eyes looked up at him with defiance, but he knew the jackal was too emotionally damaged to even try to bark back.

"Glad you're finally out of your cave," Eggman remarked with annoyance.

"… What do you want?" Infinite mumbled, looking away with his ears lowered.

Eggman observed his guest. It was the first time since the whole Shadow mission failure since he'd really taken a good look at the jackal. He looked every bit as pitiful as he sounded. He refused to eat and come out from this room since the incident. The rare times he did leave the room, he appeared to be trying to hide. His messy white hair over his blue eye would hinder his scar; refusing to show anyone and anything his face. His fur looked dull, and his body slightly frail from the lack of sunlight and food. So needless to say, he looked rather feeble and weary compared to the arrogant, rebellious mercenary he was when he met him. It was so bizarre to him that just a little over a week ago, he had such confidence that this particular Mobian was going to help him get rid of Sonic. Perhaps he had had too much faith, like always.

He had a sudden realization that maybe he really didn't want anything from him anymore. He wondered if he should just dispose of him, after all, he was starting to cause more trouble than it was worth.

However, at the same time, the doctor had to admit that none of his plans had ever worked when he was alone, so when he joined forces with the jackal, he was genuinely excited to see how the outcome would be. There was no betrayal, so that was great. But there was also no winning either yet, so that wasn't great. However, he still had the fully unrealized power of the Phantom Ruby to count on. Things could work. Things could get better. They could win. _He_ could win.

"… Never mind. Just be quiet and get some sleep." He tried to be gentle, but it still sounded like an order rather than a suggestion.

Infinite didn't seem to catch that the doctor was trying to be nice to him, or perhaps he just didn't care, so he immediately shut the door in his face and went back to self-pitying. Eggman had to suppress the urge to tirade the jackal for his rude behavior and disobedience. He took a breath and instead of walking back to his room, he went to his lab where the Phantom Ruby was held inside a giant tube with cords attached to it as it floated eerily in the liquid being tested on.

"Bah, I can't believe I haven't figured you out yet!" He exclaimed, looking at his monitor featuring the ruby's information.

One of the few things he'd found out about the Phantom Ruby was that it was nothing like a Chaos Emerald. Chaos Emeralds had pure, infinite, positive energy that normally power up their host. The ruby, however, was a whole different story….

One of his many concerns is how well the ruby would stack up against the other powerful gems. Would he need rings to maintain their power like the emeralds ? What were the side effects of prolonged exposure to the ruby's illusions, and just how real were these "_illusions_"? He had only used common robots so far to experiment the range of the illusions, but so far, he wasn't convinced any of them could beat Sonic. He was convinced a living being wielding the ruby could do so much more with it... it didn't help that his only living subject was being difficult.

Well, he'd also learned the emeralds didn't seem to have a liking to the ruby. Their mysterious chaotic energy would wind down when in close contact with the mysterious gemstone…

_Huh… interesting._

Then, the door to the lab slowly creaked open, and a concerned Orbot poked his head inside to check on his creator. "Oh? Did you manage to calm down our guest? He isn't howling anymore."

"I _tried_, if that's what you're asking," Eggman's voice still carried a tinge of irritation, "but he's being stubborn. I have a mission for him soon and don't want him to disappoint me again!"

"Ah, the ruby again," the robot directed his attention at the precious jewel.

"What of it?"

"Isn't that how you two bonded?" The robot inquired. "I think it would help to find common ground. He might be more willing to help if you were kind...er."

Eggman thought for a moment. It had been Infinite's curious vision of a devastated city that had interested him. He'd never quite come across a Mobian that he could straight up consider… cruel. Sonic and his friends, while all varied in degree of morality, were never on par with his level of villainy. Even Shadow, whom he thought of cold and willing to do wrong in the name of revenge, had proven to be quite the opposite. He was almost sure that evil was reserved for mankind until he met the jackal.

A malicious smile slowly crept back in its usual place. Orbot shook his head wearily. He would have jumped back if he wasn't already used to seeing this at least twice a week.

"And so it is!" The doctor clapped his hands together. Clearly, he had a plan. "Open a planner and start scheduling ! This will be a very busy week!"

Eggman exited the lab and walked back to where he had just been shut off a few minutes ago. He made a mental note of the rockus inside.

His knock was then answered by the same tired jackal. Infinite looked up at the mustached man with gritted teeth.

"What?" He barked, not liking at all the huge smile on the human man's face. "What do you-?"

Without warning, The doctor pushed the door back harshly and entered the room, almost knocking Infinite off his feet.

Eggman walked past the shattered mess until he reached the end of the room. He looked again at Infinite, who somehow looked even smaller and had a few loose hairs covering his scarred eye.

"You did this." It was a statement rather than a question, but Infinite still muttered something about him no longer using the base anyway.

"I'm not mad," Eggman clarified with a rather intimidating smile, "I think it was great training actually!"

"I didn't- what?" Infinite was bewildered at Eggman's enthusiasm. They had done nothing but lose so far, and now he took it upon himself to destroy even more of their already small army, yet Eggman was _happy_?

"I have a mission for you soon, and I think you'll find that the end result will favor us both," Eggman explained, lowering his glasses and flashing his guest a wicked smile. "I know exactly what you want, and believe me, I can help you achieve it."

"Do you? Because _I _have trouble knowing what I want after all this," he admitted, looking down pessimistically.

"Hmm, let's see," Eggman clapped his hands and Cubot came running into the room with a tiny projector. He pointed it at the wall behind them and a video recording of the Phantom Ruby appeared. There was readings and written information on-screen. Infinite squinted at the screen but otherwise made no reaction. He then looked up expectantly at Eggman.

"What is it?" He asked, shyly.

"What you're seeing is the Phantom Ruby's capabilities so far," Eggman raised an eyebrow, "and this… is an interesting bit I found just a few days earlier."

A video played of one of Eggman's robots infiltrating a museum that contained a Chaos Emerald. The robot was was carrying the Phantom Ruby in a protective case, carefully placing it near the golden Chaos Emerald. Almost immediately, the emerald's usual mystic glow dimmed into a dull mustard. Infinite's eyes widened. The ruby could cancel out the power of the emeralds?

"I want you to use the Ruby, see what's it capable of," Eggman said. Infinite gave him a bewildered look.

"_Me_?"

" _Yes_, I hope you realize how big of an opportunity this is," he insisted, "that is… if you still have plans to create the world you saw in your vision."

"And there's… no downside to this? You haven't tested the ruby with an actual living being…" Infinite crossed his arms and frowned.

"Well, you'll have that honor! I have no doubt you are capable of taking its power." He said encouragingly. "Think about it. With the ability to manipulate perception, AND be unfazed by a Super form, we could be invincible! We could rule the world!"

"I don't know..." Infinite looked away from him. Eggman caught him eyeing his red sword. The same one he used against Shadow the night his world turned upside down.

"You want revenge on Shadow? This is your best bet," Eggman looked expectantly at his guest.

Infinite clutched the infinity scarf around his neck. A gift from one of the younger members of his squad. With his free hand, he pushed back his hair, and his face lit up with determination as he turned back to Eggman.

"I'll do it."

"Excellent choice!" Eggman clapped his hands together excitedly. "I'll need to start making prototype models to test first! We'll need lots of rings and-"

"But… I'm not convinced." Infinite interrupted.

"What?"

"I'll help you on your _mission_. I'll fight and get what you need. I'll even get you_ a_ test subject, but _I_ don't want to be your lab rat." He said. "I _want_ that hedgehog, but I'm not taking any more risks than I need to."

Eggman forced a grin through his gritted teeth. "As you wish."

With that, he left the room, the door shutting loudly behind him. Orbot was waiting patiently outside and watched as his creator walked back to his own room.

"Did you get him to cooperate?" He asked.

"Almost." Eggman frowned.

"Oh?"

"I'll get through to him…" Eggman said, walking into his room. "He's desperate. Winning his trust won't be easy, but… he wants Shadow to pay almost as much as I want Sonic. He will give in eventually. And when he does, I will have found a way to make him fall in line. You'll see."

* * *

**Wow that took much longer than I anticipated! Please leave some feedback and reviews, would be appreciated. I referenced the game as well the promotional Sonic Forces comics that showed us Infinite's face and vision when he touched the Ruby for the first time. Anyways, have a nice day.**


	2. Gifted

**Hello! I really want to thank my first guest review; your words really lifted my mood! I'm happy to hear you liked the details (mostly because I spent a lot of time rewatching cutscenes and fact checking myself lol). Again, thanks a lot.**

**Also, do ya'll mind these long chapters? The next ones will probably be shorter than this. Anyways, Eggman tries to become a friend!.. Well, kinda! Let's see how that goes. :) **

* * *

Chapter 2: Gifted

As morning came, the doctor ordered his robot lackeys to call Infinite for breakfast. He wasn't expecting him to actually show up to the table, so he had Cubot personally take a tray of cold waffles to him in the weapons room. Shortly after, the robot came back with a broken voice chip and missing an arm.

"Did he at _least_ accept the food?" Eggman asked irritably, tapping his gloved fingers impatiently on the table.

The yellow robot just shook his head and started spewing incomprehensible gibberish.

"I guess that means no," Orbot interpreted.

Eggman bit back his frustration and decided to eat his breakfast in peace. He'd already established that winning the jackal's trust wasn't going to come easy, but it will be done.

_I was being generous, offering him something before I sent him off on another mission…_ He thought sternly. _This will be one of his last chances… but there is no way he can mess this up. It will be easy, and help me further my research on the jewel!_

* * *

_In the ruins of the weapon's room…._

Infinite anxiously paced back and forth in the huge room littered with scraps of metal. He occasionally clenched his stomach and growled as he realized there were no more robots around to distract him from his basic needs.

He hoped that by now he'd be completely numb but that wasn't the case. Everything hurt, but at the same time, the pain wasn't enough.

His stomach was begging for a tinge of nutrition, but he didn't feel like he deserved it. Whenever someone in his pack failed to steal or find food on their own, he'd give up his, so they'd have the energy to take on strong foes on their next mission. But now, he only had the obligation to feed himself and no one else, and the mere reminder gave him a horrible feeling worse than starvation. Honestly, he hoped that if his body was too in pain, at some point the heartache of losing his squad wouldn't seem like much anymore, but it wasn't the case at all.

It suddenly came to him, the same, horrible recurring memory of the last few instances he had with them. His partners didn't want to be involved in the doctor's war. They tried to talk him out of it. He didn't listen. He didn't acknowledge their worries as important. He didn't care. He killed them.

Infinite shook his head and crossed his arms wearily. His body gave an involuntary shiver.

_Stop that. It wasn't like that at all… Just… don't think about that._

Suddenly, the door creaked open and the man who hired him stepped inside with his typical crazed smile. Infinite instinctively turned away from him, knowing that the light coming from outside would betray his emotions.

"Infinite! I've finally got a new task for you!" Uh, hooray?

Infinite nodded, hoping his thick dreads covered enough of his face that the doctor wouldn't notice how awfully sleep deprived and depressed he looked.

"I'm building a new generator and appliances that will further aid my research, but all you have to worry about is getting me a few hundred rings!"

Collecting rings. That seems easy enough. Would be easier, of course, if he still had…

Infinite led out a loud, involuntary sniffle that completely caught Eggman off guard.

"How many?" The mercenary said through suppressed, uneven breathing.

Eggman, never having to deal with actual emotions being surrounded by robots and all, decided to save what was left of Infinite's pride and pretend he didn't hear a thing.

"About three hundred should be enough…"

He stood there, and it felt like one of the longest minutes in his life. For a moment, he wondered if he should say something encouraging. Then again, this is supposed to be his hired sword and guinea pig, so why should he care? Would that even be appropriate, given who he was talking to? Infinite had a reputation, did he not? He'd only be offending him by offering pity or sympathy.

A thought strayed and he realized he really didn't know Infinite. Like, _at all_. And the only reason he was willing to was because of his ambition.

"Yeah, yeah, I… I got it."

* * *

The next day, Eggman spent a ridiculous amount of time creating a robot that would create better meals in hope the jackal would finally give up on his pointless self-destructive mission. He was going nowhere fast and hated the lack of productivity.

_I should be focused on building up my army!_ He thought, sitting back in his chair. _But the ruby seems more efficient right now… If I can convince that jackal to be my test subject, maybe I can-!_

"Aha! Found the intelligence chip!" Orbot came rolling with a tiny device that resembled a miniature memory card.

"About time," his creator grumbled and snatched the item.

_What about me, boss? _Cubot gestured in sign language, then pointed at his voice chip.

"Be patient! I'm sure Infinite won't take very long, so I have to take care of this first."

Infinite had left off on his mission before dawn, so the doctor didn't get to see him off. It shouldn't matter though, as it wasn't a sort of mission that required further instructions.

* * *

Infinite decided to take the easy route first and try his luck (not that he believed in it) at Eggman's Casino Forest.

He ran off, at a rather embarrassingly slow pace by his standards, but he was surprised he could run at all given his complete lack of energy. The darkness that had greeted him earlier was replaced by beautiful, dazzling lights as he reached the location. Rings were starting to show up, too. As he dashed past them, they disappeared into a mystic light. Their energy would be enough to keep him going for the time being.

Now that he looked at it, the place was still under heavy construction. The whole forest was lined with robots, but oddly none were hostile whatsoever. As he walked further into the forest, he wondered why the doctor would want to turn a chunk of wilderness into a weird amusement park. It just seemed so… bizzare.

Bizzare… a good way to describe his client. A strangely interesting man who wants to enslave the world, but also build dangerous amusement parks for no reason while he's at it. He supposed he shouldn't judge. He is pretty strange himself, not to mention crazy and stupid for thinking everything was going to go well while working for such a dangerous villain.

After a few minutes of hurling through springs and bumpers, he finally found an actual slot machine only to find himself asking even more questions. Now, was it really necessary to make everything so dazzling? The place looked gorgeous, no need to lie, but what was the point? Who was honestly going to play into his weird slot machines? It didn't seem like the doctor could even enjoy such a thing. Almost like... it was made _specifically_ for his blue nemesis.

Nothing made sense with this guy. Although, the thought of the doctor having a weird gambling addiction _did_ amuse him. He would have probably chuckled had it been any other situation.

He took a breath, exhaled, and finally leaped into another spring catapult, this time sending flying off directly into the slot machine. The first bar was surprisingly a jackpot! Now that he had a chance, he tried to time the next one. The pictures moved rapidly then started to slow down, revealing... a second jackpot! That gave him hope until the last bar appeared and it was…Eggman.

Immediately, the slot machine launched him off with tremendous force towards a bumper, but since nothing in the place was finished or fine tuned yet, he crashed into a wall instead.

Infinite got up shakily only to realize that the hit didn't make him drop any rings… He looked around wildly, the slot machine literally took _all_ the rings!

"WHY IN THE _WORLD_ WOULD HE MAKE HIMSELF BE WHAT YOU SHOULD AVOID IN THAT DAMN THING?!" He screamed.

Frustrated, he slashed two nearby robots that were minding their own business in half. Two small flickies emerged from their remains and flew away as fast as they could from the rampaging monster.

That was it. He was done. He'd try some other day, in some other place.

He walked back to the entrance with both hands tightly into fists. Any Eggman robot on the way that so much as turned their head was met with the furious slash of a blood red sword. It didn't help his situation at all but his mood did improve. Slightly. He could understand why Sonic and his rainbow squad destroyed them. It was satisfying. Then again, he just wanted an excuse to swing his sword at something. Shadow wasn't around (not that he could catch him anyway) so these were the next best thing.

* * *

The morning light came strong. It also left strongly as noon came to remind Infinite he'd spent hours and came back empty handed.

Infinite sighed as he reached the base. He'd come back to the place with as much spirit as he had left.

The large lab door groaned as it opened. He arrived with his head down. His back ached from the fall he endured earlier. He bit his lip. Maybe if he just snuck back in his room the doctor would forget… maybe he didn't even notice his absence and he can just say he will go later. Or… maybe he could say he was attacked by one of Sonic's friends. He wouldn't blame him for failing then.

_Wow, look at you already making excuses._ He thought bitterly. _I'm the ultimate , I guess._

Suddenly, his nose picked up an unusual sweet smell that was just amplified by his hunger. Weird. Usually the only smells he can pick up is burnt metal, oil, or whatever else strange thing the doctor was working on. Nothing too pleasant.

He looked up and realized all the lights dimmed or completely off.

"Huh?" Infinite looked around confused, but if he knew his way around he knew the smell would probably take him to the kitchen. A room that takes up much more space than it should. Beyond that, a hallway and he always stayed in the room furthest down, away from Eggman's lab.

His ears twitched as he picked up slight movement. He slowly reached for his sword, ready in a fighting stance when a strange voice started yelling.

"HEY, BOSS! HE FINALLY MADE IT!" Cubot screeched, in a ridiculously high pitch voice.

Immediately,as if on cue, the lights turned on and the jackal was met with confetti, loud party horns and music blasted his incredibly sensitive ears. He flinched as his ears flattened against his head. The lights revealed Eggman and his badniks in a round table. Each had what he guessed was an 'Eggman-land themed' party hat on.

"Welcome back!" Eggman chanted, with a wider smile than usual.

"What are you _doing_?" Infinite demanded, his hands covering his folded ears.

"Celebrating your first victory!" Eggman snapped his gloved fingers and an Egg Pawn with a chef hat came marching with a wonderfully decorated cake in hand.

He was speechless as he inspected the cake. It was huge. A slice in the middle revealed it was three different flavors. Probably so he wouldn't be left assuming which one he'd like more. In truth, Infinite didn't even remember what kind of flavour he liked.

"... You did this for me?" Infinite said in a small voice.

"Of course! Have a seat!"Eggman gestured at an empty chair across him. The rest were occupied by Orbot, Cubot, some badniks, and an inactive Metal Sonic slumped forward with his head on the table, also sporting a party hat on.

Infinite stared in awe as he saw two more badniks bring food that looked surprisingly edible. He felt a light tug at his neck and realized a banik was trying to remove his scarf. He growled at it, but the robot, unfazed, tugged harder. Infinite rolled his eyes and removed it, realizing it was a bit dirty. He gave it to the robot and it beeped cheerfully as it handed him a fancy napkin. Another badnik handed him a plate with a fair slice, then offered to take his sword. Infinite hesitated with this as well, but gave it to the robot with its handle pointing down.

Infinite looked down at the food. Apart from Eggman, he was really the only other person that could eat in the room. Or just the only other person, in general.

"So, how was it?" Eggman gave him a pensive look.

The jackal gave a weary look. "T-The mission..?" He asked, with his mouth half full.

"The cake!" Eggman laughed.

"Oh um… it's really good, I think," He answered, a bit uneased by Eggman's unusually cheery attitude. "I haven't had a cake since I was a kid. It tasted nothing like this one, though." _Which _he had stolen from a bakery. And he'd only taken a single bite. The rest was eaten by the other kids in the pack he lived with at the time. Not the type of nostalgic trip he wanted, but the current cake tasted good. _Really_ good, in fact.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, help yourself! We have plenty of good snacks today." Eggman hummed.

Infinite bit down on another flavored slice, this time chocolate. He stared a bit at the rest of the food. If his squad were here, they would absolutely appreciate the dinner. He growled lowly, annoyed by his thoughts, but also unable to keep his mind from clouding. He didn't even actually do anything… but Eggman insisted on this. It felt wrong somehow.

"Sorry." He said suddenly, pushing the plate away. "I don't deserve this."

"Sure you do! You think it's easy getting back that many rings?"

"That's… that's the problem," he sighed, uneasy, "I didn't… complete the mission."

"Oh _please_, I'm sure you did good enough." Eggman waved off dismissively. " How far off were you? Like 10? 20? No use beating ourselves over small shortcomings when-"

"Try 300," he interrupted, "I got nothing done."

"You're not serious," Eggman laughed, although it sounded fake. Infinite's tail swished restlessly. He decided to take the hit.

"I am…" He admitted, looking down at his food.

Orbot and Cubot looked at each other nervously. The expression on their creator's face told them he wasn't having it. The music started dimming as the robots realized the mood wasn't so victorious anymore.

"You're being _modest_," Eggman insisted, irritation rising in his voice, "you don't have to _pretend_ you're that incompetent."

Infinite looked stunned. He clenched his jaw, as if physically trying to hold the urge to retaliate. His hands slowly balled into fists, which didn't go unnoticed by Orbot.

"Sir…" Orbot pleaded, "you should drop the topic."

"_No_." Eggman pressed on. "How in the _world_ did you mess that up?"

"_Maybe_ if you didn't rely on cheap gimmicks for your stupid slot machines I would have finished the mission!"Infinite snapped indignantly.

"Why are you even going to Casino Forest?!" Eggman fumed. "It's not finished yet! And there's a whole world out there _full_ of rings! You couldn't take a few more steps to find them?"

Even the badniks, despite being robots, seemed to be thoroughly engaged in their argument. Metal Sonic lifted his head slightly to view his creator and his hired-sword at each other's throats. He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the tension.

"I get it." Eggman leaned back on the chair, although his frown relaxed he still sounded mad. "Your title. Your name. It's all fake isn't it?"

Infinite didn't respond. His body stiffened. He didn't like assumptions, much less when they were… accurate.

"You're actually some nobody from nowhere." He continued, adjusting his glasses."You did a few impressive things and thought you were special. Better than the average Mobian. And to your credit, maybe you _are_."

Infinite glared quietly at him. His golden eye bright and fierce, the blue one hardly visible under his messy hair.

"Tell me, how do you have the _audacity_ to call yourself 'Ultimate Mercenary' after failing so much?"

"I don't _know._" Infinite snapped at him. " How do _you_ keep your title of genius after losing so many damn times to the blue rat?"

"You're walking on thin ice, _jackal_." He said warningly, pointing an index finger at him.

"You're so right!" Infinite waved his hands up."And you know what? I don't _have _to."

He got up and snatched his sword from the Eggpawn next to him that was paying too close attention to their argument. He started to stomp his way out the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Eggman called after him.

"I'm taking a _walk_." He hissed, not looking back.

"Not the best way to win his trust…" Orbot muttered.

"You think I need him?" He said accusingly.

"Well…"

"Let him leave."Eggman said through gritted teeth. The door shut tightly, Infinite didn't even bother to slam it this time.

_I have other plans to still count on._

* * *

**Yikes. Suffice to say we won't see real bonding until later. BUT yeah this is still pre-forces. Anyways, tell me what you think so far and stay safe.**


End file.
